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Nancy Price
| birth_place = Kinver, Staffordshire, England | death_date = March | death_place = Worthing, England | spouse = Charles Maude }} Nancy Price, CBE (3 February 1880 – 31 March 1970), was an English actress on stage and screen, authoress and theatre director. Her acting career began in a repertory theatre company before progressing to the London stage, silent films, talkies and finally television. In addition to appearing on stage she became involved in theatre production and was a founder of the People's Theatre. Life Christened Lilian Nancy Bache Price in Kinvern, Staffordshire, England, in 1887, Nancy was the daughter of Sarah (Mannix) and William Henry Price (a retired farmer). Her mother was the granddaughter of Sir Henry Mannix. After schooling in her home village and then in nearby Malvern Wells she decided at an early age to become an actress. She married the actor Charles Maude on 17 May 1907, and they were together until his death in 1943. Their daughter Joan Maude also went on to become an actress. Soon after her daughter was born she made the village of Findon in West Sussex her home, living in a cottage called 'Arcana' in Heather lane on the Downs.http://www.findonvillage.com/0361_margot_and_nancy.htm Findon remained her home until her death in 1970. Career While it is convenient to separate Price's career into three distinct areas – stage, screen, and writing – it is worth noting that apart from her early career where she was just acting on stage, and her late career where she was just writing, for a period of 40 years she was engaged in all three. Theatre Price joined F.R. Benson's theatre company while still at school. The company specialised in Shakespeare's plays and toured extensively in the provinces. Her first big break came when she caught the attention of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who cast her as Calypso in Stephen Phillips's production of Ulysses at Her Majesty's Theatre London in 1902, a role in which she enjoyed great success.http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-PriceLilianNancyBache.html The part of Hilda Gunning was written for her by A. W. Pinero in Letty (1904), a role in which the theatre critic J. T. Grein commented: "In Letty, while others enhanced their fame, Miss Nancy Price, in the part of Hilda, the shop-girl, made her name. If we read the character aright, Miss Price realised it well-nigh to perfection". In 1909 she appeared as Mrs. D'Aquila in George Dance's production of The Whip at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She joined Edith Craig's Pioneer Players at the Kingsway Theatre in 1911 for a performance of Christopher St. John's The First Actress. In March 1912 she appeared as India in Sir Edward Elgar's Imperial Masque The Crown of India at the London Coliseum. Together with the Dutch-born theatre impresario J.T. Grein, Price founded the People's National Theatre in 1930. Their first production was The Man from Blankleys by F. Anstey at the Fortune Theatre.http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Fortune.htm When Grein left the company Nancy became its honorary director, and in 1932 a permanent home was found at the Little Theatre in the Adelphi with Nancy as manageress. The enterprise came to an end with the destruction of the theatre in 1941. During this period Nancy also established the English School Theatre Movement which toured Shakespeare to working class children. In the 1950 King's Birthday Honours List Nancy was awarded a CBE for services to the stage. In the same year she gave her final stage performance as Martha Blanchard in Eden Phillpotts' The Orange Orchard at the New Lindsey Theatre.http://www.theater-dictionary.com/definition/Lilian-Nancy-Bache-Price.html Film Having established herself as a stage actress in London's West End, Price's first film role was in the 1916 silent film, The Lyons Mail. In the next decade she appeared in a further eight silent films before her first talkie, The American Prisoner, which was recorded in mono sound in 1929. The last silent film in which she appeared, The Price of Divorce, was adapted by producer Oswald Mitchell to incorporate sound and released under the name Such is the Law. Publications Poetry * Hurdy-Gurdy. London: Frederick Muller, 1944. Plays * Whiteoaks: A play (with Mazo de la Roche). London: Macmillan, 1936. * The Orange Orchard (with Eden Phillpotts). London: Samuel French, 1951. Novels * Ta-mera. London: Hutchinson, 1950. Non-fiction * Behind the Night-Light: The by-world of a child of three (by Joan Maude as told to Nancy Price). London : John Murray, 1912. * A Vagabond’s Way: Haphazard wanderings on the fells (illustrations by A.S. Hartrick). London: John Murray, 1914; London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1936. * Shadows on the Hills: On the English Lake District. London: Gollancz, 1935. * The Gull’s Way: An account of a cruise along the east coast of England. London: Gollancz, 1937. * Nettles and Docks (essays). London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1940. * Jack by the Hedge, etc.. London : Frederick Muller, 1942. * I had a Comrade, “Buddy”. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1944. * Tails and Tales: On dogs. London: Gollancz, 1945. * Where the Skies Unfold (essays). Birmingham, UK: George Ronald, 1947. * Wonder of Wings: A book about birds. London: Gollancz, 1947. * Acquainted with the Night: A book of dreams (illustrated by Michael Rothenstein). Oxford, UK: George Ronald, 1949. * Bright Pinions: On parrots. Oxford, UK: George Ronald, 1952. * Feathered Outlaws. London: Henry E. Walter, 1953. * In Praise of Trees: An anthology for friends. London: Frederick Muller, 1953. * Into an Hour-Glass (autobiography). London : Museum Press, 1953. * Pagan’s Progress: High days and holy days. London: Museum Press, 1954. * The Heart of a Vagabond: On country life in Sussex. London: Museum Press, 1955. * I Watch and Listen: A book mainly concerned with the courtship and song of birds. (London : Bodley Head, 1957. * Winged Builders: A book of bird lore, chiefly concerned with the nesting, building and family habits of British birds. London: George Ronald, 1959. * Each in his own way! Personalities I have valued, selected from my album of memories (with woodcuts by William Wood). London: Frederick Muller, 1960. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Nancy Price 1880-1970, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 18, 2015. Theatre Performances Films Television See also *List of British poets References External links * Photos of Nancy Price * Little Theatre in the Adelphi * Nancy playing banjo * Tribute to Warrior birds commisioned by Nancy Price * British Pathe newsreel film featuring Nancy Price * Photograph of Nancy Price as Mrs. D'Acquilar in The Whip * Photograph of Nancy Price as Edith Cavell in Nurse Cavell Category:1880 births Category:1970 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:British film actors Category:British television actors Category:English film actors Category:British silent film actors Category:English silent film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English memoirists Category:English novelists Category:English women writers Category:English diarists Category:English poets Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Kinver Category:Theatre directors Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:Actors Category:English-language poets